


Sweater Weather

by missema



Series: Kirkwall Tech [11]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bonfires, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff, Formals, Formalwear, Honesty, Making Out, Oral Sex, Party, Sentimental, Vacation, dance, frat party, past bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-12-25 09:19:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12032907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: Fall semester kicked off with an epic party that Melissa mostly missed, but there's the matter of the weekend long formal that Sebastian invited her to over the summer. It's a weekend away with Sebastian, and they've only got eyes for each other, despite the fact that they aren't alone. They're staying in a hotel with his whole fraternity, and their weekend isn't just about dancing and fancy clothes.





	1. Chapter 1

As their senior year went on for both Sebastian and Melissa, both of them were less busy than they’d feared, but not as idle as they’d hoped. There were classes of course, and some were more difficult than ever before, but there was also a fair amount of downtime, even with senior projects and things that needed finishing before graduation.

The Kirkwall Society of Engineers elected Sebastian as their president at the end of the previous semester, and he took his office and duties seriously. It was the first honor he'd earned on his own, not through any chance of his birth. Though to outsiders it seemed like their biggest responsibility was to plan good parties, they actually had other objectives that needed to be met, unless they wanted the necessary alumni funds to run out.

During the summer he'd told her about their formal, and when she told her mother, Leandra insisted she make Melissa a dress for the occasion. Melissa had never been to a formal or even worn a formal dress as an adult, and Isabela had been duly enlisted to give fashion advice and help her pick a pattern. The dress was made for Melissa, but there was an undeniable flair in the design that marked it as picked by Isabela. Her mother had outdone herself on the dress, really and truly. 

"I've got the best outfits for you, Hawke," Isabela told her two nights before as she was making dinner for herself. "And shoes and makeup."

"You didn't have to," Melissa said. As much as she appreciated Isabela's generosity, she also knew that money always ran out.

"I know, but that's why it's been so much fun. Luis would hate me spending his money on you, so that's why I do it. It honors our marriage."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want, but," Melissa started, but Isabela cut her off.

"I'm surprised Sebastian didn't tell you. It was five years of Luis's salary from his job because it was from his accidental death insurance. It covered five years salary, and apparently he never changed it from me to his new wife. She got the life insurance, and I got the AD&D since he did die in such an unfortunate accident. It was just over 600,000 crowns," she explained, smiling.

"Sebastian knows?" Melissa asked.

"Yes, sweet thing. He helped me divvy it up into what to donate to maximize deductions blah blah, what I needed to live, what I could spend and what to invest. Well, he didn't. His brother did, not the Crown Prince but the other one. Or someone in his office did. Can't be sure," Isabela mused.

"So it's taken care of," Melissa stated and Isabela nodded her agreement.

"I'm set up for a while, so long as I keep my wits about me while spending. I can go on a serious spree or two with my available money, and so long as I don't dip into the investments too deeply, we're good."

"And you want to spend it on me? I'm flattered," Melissa said, making Isabela laugh.

"Sharing is caring. Besides, it's far more fun to watch you grasp the idea that people have more than one pair of earrings than it is to buy eight of my own. Or and then buy eight pairs and split them with you." Isabela jumped down from the counter where she'd been perched, and started searching through the nearly empty cabinets for food. She may have had more money, but Isabela drew the line at grocery shopping.

"Be ready for Friday morning. We're getting hair silkening, because I want to try it and it looks awesome, our eyebrows done and mani/pedis. It's going to be fun, and I'm actually waking up in the morning so it could be booked early enough to get you to your class," Isabela said.

"I know. I'm looking forward to it." Melissa paused, because she knew Isabela would respond poorly if thanked directly, but she was overwhelmed by the kindness of her roomie. "You're going to look amazing, and I'm just happy you picked out all my outfits for the weekend so I don't wind up dancing in a pair of leggings."

"I would never let that happen, Hawke," Isabela said, picking up on the meaning. "And I think I'm getting my roots touched up. I mean brown is fine and all, but it should look like the sun just shot a glorious load in my hair, shouldn't it?"

Melissa made a face and Isabela laughed herself into the next room to pick up a menu for a local pizza place. Isabela would order a cheese pizza and a salad, but she liked to look at the menu and sometimes change the type of salad from time to time. The place they ordered from was just down the street, and made up for being really good with being especially quick with the deliveries.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? Lots of the brothers have asked about you. I'm sure someone's still looking for a date and you definitely have a dress for it," Melissa said, waiting with Isabela for the pizza to be delivered.

"No way. I would never do a weekend-long first date. The reason it works for you and Choir Boy is because you want to be alone with him. I'd probably end up with someone that's fine for about two hours and horrible after that," Isabela said.

"If you say so," Melissa said. She was quiet for a little while, thinking on the weekend and what she might expect. She wanted to stay with Sebastian, but they weren't planning to share a room the first night. After the formal, she'd spend the night with him, and the implications of what that might mean hung heavy on her mind. "I think Sebastian's ready." She didn't need to add context for Isabela to know what she meant.

"Are you sure? Because if he isn't, he's not going to be happy afterwards and you'll be guilty and miserable," Isabela cautioned.

"I think he thinks he's ready," Melissa admitted and sighed. "How should I handle this weekend then? Just shy away?"

Isabela rolled her neck and looked out the window. "You should have talked about it already, Hawke. He's a big boy. You haven't made sure it's okay in advance, so don't. If you have a conversation while you're there, then fine, but don't make any hasty mistakes."

The doorbell buzzed then and put an end to their conversation. Melissa chewed on her lip, considering. Isabela came back with the food, and stopped in front of Melissa. She gently laid a brown bag down next to her.

"I got you fries. It should help," she said, and then went to put the pizza in the kitchen. Melissa wasn't sure what the fries should help with, but she was glad Isabela ordered them.

#

It was a whole weekend, buses to a resort, a bonfire on Friday night, the formal itself on Saturday night and they'd be home again on Sunday morning after a late breakfast. Buses so no one was drinking and driving, even though they weren't really leaving the resort. There were two people driving, their standards officer and the vice-president were making their own way up, just in case they needed the cars.

After classes ended on Friday, she went over to the KSE house. Sebastian coming to pick her up so she didn't have to walk with her luggage. The whole group was taking a set of two chartered buses. One would be filled with raucous freshmen whose dates they'd barely known a month before asking to their formal, and the older members who were looking forward to this trip and knew what it would entail after years of going. Melissa didn't, since she'd never been invited to a formal before and her last paramour wasn't part of any organizations. She wasn't sure at all what to expect, but was looking forward to the long weekend away from school and work.

"Any bags you want with you, set aside and I can put your bigger bag under the bus," Sebastian told her as she stood with the group outside of the house. There were two buses and a giant group of people, but Sebastian had the They were loading up, readying to leave on Friday afternoon.

"I've just the two, and I don't want my purse to go under the bus, so here," Melissa said, handing him the scuffed leather duffel she'd bought back in Ferelden. That bag had carried her stuff through so many moves, though it had never held the accessories for a formal gown before. Her actual dress was in a hanging bag with Sebastian's suit, and they had no intention of letting go under the bus. They were to be piled in seats kept empty for it, with the two buses there would be plenty of room.

"I've got to go address the other bus before we set off. We're in the last seat on this one, the three seats at the very back," Sebastian told her. He kissed her quickly and stepped away, letting her get onto the bus first. She turned briefly and watched him as he sheperded people onto both bus, coordinating and talking to them as he did. 

Melissa got onto the bus and found that it was full of familiar faces. Lots of people called out greetings, and one asked her for help with his homework, though she shook her head ruefully at the request. "Not this weekend," she said back, earning a chorus of unintended laughs as she did.

It was strange how familiar the KSE brothers had become in such a short time. They were a motley bunch, not recruited but self-chosen, and all of them held Sebastian in high esteem. She was by extension brushed with the same kind of lofty regard, though she'd earned some on her own by helping with the party prep recently and answering math problems on the whiteboard where brothers wrote down the homework they couldn't solve on their own. Many of the brothers she'd tutored, though she hadn't realized it at the time. Last year she'd run a calculus I finals study prep through the math department, and many brothers and other people around campus knew her from that.

Sebastian got onto the bus as she was getting settled, and she saw him speak to another brother, roll his eyes and get off the bus again. She incredulously noticed the fact that he was wearing jeans, though they looked good on him. Sebastian hated wearing denim, mostly because he hadn't been allowed to wear it growing up and it felt oddly heavy and stiff whenever he did wear it now. He owned exactly three pairs, and these he paired with a designer v-neck shirt, which Melissa told him more than once was a ridiculous indulgence. A designer t-shirt made no sense to her. But he liked them, and she did have to admire the clinging fit of the navy shirt, and the v where Sebastian let his sunglasses hang on his chest caught her eye more than once. He walked as he always did, with his head and shoulders straight and proud, so regal that even if she hadn't known his background, his bearing would scream his assumed authority.

He came back after yelling something at the other bus, and having a brief conversation with a head that popped out of the doorway. At the front of their bus, he gave people directions in a voice too low for her to hear, and the bus started up. They were turning off the street where the KSE house was when he started making his way back to her, stopping at nearly every row to speak. When he sat down next to her he was slightly annoyed, she could tell by the set of his shoulders, but he relaxed when she smiled at him.

"It's going to be a long weekend," he muttered, and Melissa gave him a sympathetic smile.

She leaned in and kissed him, much to his surprise. It was meant to just be a short kiss, but her mouth lingered over his and didn't pull away, kissing him again. Her hand was caught between them and she put it over his heart, resting it there as he kissed her once more, his hand going to the small of her back to pull her even closer to him. She hadn't meant for it to go on, but when he drew her into yet another kiss, she leaned further in and soon they were entangled in each other.

His mouth was so perfectly warm and inviting, made for kisses and whispers. Honestly, it was like her senses were turned up to eleven, she could feel the fabric of his shirt, the beating of his heart, the conditioned softness of his hair so well that it was like his kisses had supercharged her tactile input. All she wanted was to keep kissing him, feeling the tempered response of his kisses to hers, knowing that the longer they kept going the more his restraint eroded until they'd be forced to stop, and that excited her too. His hands had been ever so careful throughout this, never quite being overt about cupping her breasts but grazing them more and more often as the kissing went on. 

His phone interrupted them, sending a vibrating jolt through the both of them at the same time, making them jerk apart. Sebastian fished it out of his pocket, looked at it with a grimace and answered with a false politeness that almost made her laugh. No one on the other end would guess it, but she knew when his patience was taxed, and took his hand in hers to calm him. Sebastian looked over at her with a small, thankful smile just as the conversation was wrapping up. The call was short, but from what she heard it sounded like the hotel.

"You'll be pleased to know that I've got a suite now. It's a complimentary upgrade they happen to give me every single time I go there," he said. 

"So lucky," Melissa said, giving him a sarcastic smile. He pulled her close to him again and kissed it from her face.

They kept at it for most of the two hour ride, and Melissa couldn't quite understand how she'd missed this part of growing up. She had been busy, but hadn't any intrepid souls wanted to take her someplace quiet and kiss her until her knees were weak and they both had to go home? She hadn't been kissed like this until college, and it mostly had the expectation of going to bed afterwards. Sebastian wasn't sleeping with her, they weren't even in the same room tonight, and there was no reason for him to kiss her besides the fact that he wanted to. 

"Um, hey Sebastian? Sorry to interrupt but you two weren't coming up for air," Elfroot said. He was actually an elf, which made Melissa think his nickname was more than lazy, but she never said it to him. Undoubtedly there was some story behind it, but she didn't really care to know.

"What's up?" Sebastian asked, an arm still around Melissa's waist. He wasn't going to let her settle back just yet. Flecks of her lipstick adorned his kiss-swollen lips, contrary to the advertised claims that the matte pinkish brown shade 'wouldn't move' and was no smudge.

"I just heard from the hotel, they said they tried calling you again but your phone is going to voicemail. Anyway, we have to do their new check-in process when we get there. But since you made the reservation, you have to be the one that checks us in as a group," Elfroot explained. 

Sebastian nodded as Elfroot went on with his explanation of the check in process and the rules the hotel had outlined for their group, and then shrugged. "I guess I'll be standing there for a while. It's not a problem. Is that all?" he asked pointedly, his hand already tightening on the small of her back.

Elfroot left and Sebastian looked at his phone. "There's about 18 more minutes driving time, what do you say we make good use of them?" he asked, but before he could answer, he'd already started kissing her again.


	2. Chapter 2

This was the first time Sebastian had ever gone to his formal with a date. When he'd first come to Kirkwall Tech, still smarting from his exile and overwhelmed with all the work that this school took, he hadn't bothered trying to find a date for anything. It seemed pointless -- a weekend away with someone he barely knew, drinking, dancing and sitting around a bonfire -- destined to end in the kind of ridiculously enjoyable behavior that got him in trouble in the first place. He may have wallowed, a little, because he hadn't known what else to do at that point, and it was a lonesome time for him. Eventually, he remembered he could have fun with people without sleeping with them, although he did on occasion tend to drink too much.

He liked drinking and dancing and dating, but during his first two years it just had seemed pointless to remind himself of how much he liked it. Melissa hadn't been his first attempt at dating, only the most successful. He tried once to go out and just let it be what it was, but he hadn't really been ready to date. Try as he might to deny it, the events that led to his exile, the exile itself and the hard landing in Kirkwall had made him fragile, as if any wrong moves might make him shatter into too many pieces to put back together. It took years before he could manage the guilt that rose up in him whenever he started to care for someone. 'You're not what they need, you'll hurt them too', his thoughts always told him. 

Only time had broken down those walls so Melissa could get through. She alone interested him, with her unsubtle flirting and brilliant mind honed by the harshness of her past. Her trials weren't the same as his, but there was a kinship in having lived through times that left you forever changed and cautious. When he felt like talking about it, really talking, it would be with her.

She stayed with him while he checked everyone in, confirming that the whole group was indeed there, after she got their bags from the bus. Sliding right next to him as he worked with the smiling hotel staff to get the entirety of his group checked in, she greeted most of the people that checked in with their group as an acquaintance, she knew all of the brothers, if not by name than by sight, and more than few of their dates. It was only the staff that seemed to have a problem with her there, and Sebastian made sure to watch them closely. More than a few smiles flickered out at the sight of her, but it was better that they know now rather than find them in trying their luck as a surprise in his bed later.

"Do you want to see my room?" he asked, turning away from the kiosk where he'd been stationed and picking up the bags. "We can put your things away first."

"Sure," she agreed, and let him take the bags. As they left the lobby to go towards the elevator bank, he took her hand. Public displays of affection had been his way of rebelling against his staid parents, but it had always been a game then. The honest desire just to touch Melissa burned within him, he'd gone too long without her sleeping next to him recently, and he relished any uninterrupted moments they might steal together during the weekend. 

Her room was a standard double room with two beds, and when she got there, her roommate was already in the room. The girl introduced herself as Nadia, a second years Physics and Astronomy major. She was Lucky Lyrium's date for the next night. She knew of Melissa from friends they had in common and called her 'Hawke' already, just as so many people around campus did. Melissa took her dress from the hanging bag and put it in the closet so quickly that the only impression he got of it was that it was white and long, but he didn't mind being surprised. With a goodbye to Nadia, they left to look at his room several floors up.

"I'd ask if you want to stay with me tonight, but I know you won't. Plus Nadia looked like she wanted to talk to you," Sebastian said in the elevator. Melissa knew so many people, and her popularity was an odd beast for him to deal with because she was far more well-known than he was, at least within the confines of the college and Kirkwall.

"I wouldn't anyway because tomorrow we're all getting up for massages and pampering down at the hotel spa, and I'd definitely skip that if I could stay in your room all day. What are you doing tomorrow? I never asked."

"Didn't you just do that with Isabela?" he asked.

"Yes, but there's no harm in getting something different done tomorrow. I'd like to take advantage while I can before the year gets too busy. I don't want my hair touched though, it's perfect now."

He looked over at it, shining black even in the light of the elevator. Her hair was straighter and smoother than usual, and it reminded him of Starkhaven, and how the ladies of court spent so much time and money and effort making their hair and makeup just right. He'd thought her hair felt softer when he'd touched it on the bus, but his mind hadn't been on giving compliments with words at the time. The elevator doors opened and they departed on his floor, turning right as the sign directed them.

"We're golfing tomorrow morning, and then lunch at the clubhouse. It's not as nice as a massage or spending all day in bed with you, but I'll make due." The resort had a myriad of things to do. There were outdoor trails to walk, pools to swim in, the golf course and spa, but also a large movie room.

"I'm sure you will," she laughed. 

They stopped outside the door to his room, the double doors to his room. Sebastian turned to look at Melissa, who was giving it a very skeptical look. When he put the keycard in and opened it, revealing a very large main room that was so underwhelming he felt like closing the doors immediately. It looked like most luxury hotel suites did, big couches, a wall-mounted television, the look of a professional decorator hired for their ability to appeal to the masses and not for real style or comfort. 

He took in the room with a bored expression; it was too large for just him, there was a kitchen he wouldn't use, more televisions than one man could watch alone, and a bedroom with a connected bath. He walked out to open the door to the patio, and found that it stuck. He got it open to see a nice view of the golf course and lake, but there were no chairs outside to sit and enjoy the view. The bathroom adjoining his bedroom was supposed to be the best part, there was a large jetted tub that was big enough for at least six people, and a glass shower. He sighed.

"Well, it certainly is big," Melissa tried. He could hear the laughter waiting in her voice, but she was too tactful to let it come out.

"I hope I don't stub a toe in this maze of ridiculousness," he muttered. "Do you need to freshen up for dinner? Do you want to meet downstairs or should I come get you?"

"Come get me for sure," she answered. "I'm going to change. I'll see you in a half hour."

She leaned over to kiss him goodbye, declined his offer to walk her back to her room and then was gone. He hung his suit just to have something to do, then thought about it and called the concierge to pick it up for pressing. It would be placed back in his room within the evening he was told, and he set the phone down. This room with all its empty, vague aspirations of splendor depressed him. He was alone in here tonight, and all he wanted to do was get very, very drunk.

#

In the end a half hour wasn't very long to wait, and he wound up going downstairs to the bar after brushing his hair and shaving again. A few of the other KSE brothers were down there, and Sebastian joined them while checking that he still had fifteen minutes before he needed to meet Melissa for dinner. They were all eating together, in the main restaurant, it had been rented just for them, and had a sign that said they were closing for a private event. Tomorrow night they'd be in the ballroom, and Sebastian was looking forward to that much more than the bonfire tonight.

Bonfire night was a chance to get hyped up for the year ahead but honestly, as proud as he was to be the president of KSE this year, Sebastian was tired. The road to graduation had been paved with many difficult hurdles, and whenever he thought of his classes Sebastian recalled the irate email his father had sent over the summer because he failed to get on the Dean's List for the spring semester. The presidency took so much more work than he'd expected, and was frustrating in the way that all bureaucracy was, it took forever to get anything done and it wasn't half of what he'd expected to do.

"You not drinking tonight?" Mabari asked him, the fair-haired Fereldan raising an eyebrow at him in question.

"You'd advise whiskey on an empty stomach?" Sebastian challenged and Mabari shook his head.

"I forgot how pretentious you were about drinking. Have a beer man, you look like you need it," Mabari said. Around the table were five other brothers besides him and Mabari. Only Random, a brother that majored in Mechanical Engineering, was of his year, but he knew all the others. Goat, who was really named Albert but insisted he was Kirkwall's Greatest lover Of All Time, which is how he got the nickname Goat. Sebastian highly doubted he was anywhere near Kirkwall's greatest lover of any time let alone all of them. Goat stood up to go to the bar just as the waitress came over.

Goat ordered another beer and Sebastian decided that he might as well, and had one too. Aside from him the other brothers were lively, animated about the weekend to come. His beer came to the table swiftly, and he lifted the glass to his lips without thought. Around him the conversation swirled, they were speculating on who was the best dancer, teasing each other. As he thought about it, Sebastian realized his bad mood wasn't about the weekend, it was fine, but it was more that he didn't want to participate in favor of spending time with Melissa. That was absurd, because she was here to have a good time and wouldn't appreciate him moping and trying to keep her from the actual fun. Though the too big room and the staring of the hotel staff grated on him, he tried to let it go.

He finished his drink and got up, feeling the beer more than he had any right to. If he didn't stop now he'd get to tipsy far too quickly. "You all know I'm the best dancer out of everyone here, right?" he asserted, earning a lot of booing from his brothers.

"You say that now, St. Seb, but wait until you see me tomorrow night," Goat promised. 

"Who'd you bring?" Mabari asked.

"Eriq Eberhardt, he's a junior in electrical engineering. I met him last semester in my circuits and components class. He's staying in the room with Julian's boyfriend tonight, golfing with us tomorrow."

"Nice," Sebastian said and started to walk away from the bar.

"Dinner's that way," someone called out to him, but he threw a smile over his shoulder and shook his head.

"My girl's upstairs. See you in a few," Sebastian said. The weekend may not be what he wanted, but he was determined to make the best of it.

Dinner was actually more fun than he was expecting that night. He and Melissa sat at one of the long tables that was set up in the restaurant, and there was much teasing and shit-talking as the night went on. They were served standard fare from a small menu of three options for dinner, salad, pasta or meat dish, and a dessert. By their own rules, they were forbidden from getting drunk that night, but their guests weren't. A few drank more than Sebastian thought was wise, but most were eager to go to the bonfire without the risk of setting themselves aflame on accident. They were also banned from bringing alcohol into the hotel for the weekend, and though he knew some had snuck in, Sebastian didn't mind so long as they weren't too obvious or disruptively drunk.

The bonfire was outside on the terrace of the hotel. They lit the firepit for them and there was a bar outside that all guests could use, but it would likely only be their large group out on the terrace that night. Melissa had brought down a fleece jacket, and Sebastian wished he'd the foresight to pack a jacket. Of all the things to forget, it wasn't the worst, and he could just cuddle her for warmth if he needed it.

The terrace at the hotel was spectacular. The fire was in the center of curved benches, and built up to an impressive height. They managed to all sit around it, and the hotel had provided a store of blankets nearby, so they the chilly breeze wouldn't become too much for their party. It was well past sunset, the light had faded before they came for dinner, but the moons shone brightly that night. Around the resort was a lake and a golf course, the manicured rolling hills of the course leading to the water, and they were dark silhouettes that held no mysteries in the night. The sky was clear around them, and save for the lights of the hotel there wasn't much other light pollution to obscure his view of the clear, starry sky above. Melissa cuddled into his side and tilted her head back too, looking up at the heavens.

"It's beautiful tonight," she whispered, and he had to nod his agreement.

"Let's get started," Lucky Lyrium said, and stood up to begin talking. Lucky was the house Chair of Internal Relations, and likely to be vice-president next year. "So hey everyone, I'm Lucky, and we're kicking off the Fall Formal weekend for this year." A smattering of cheers went up and Lucky continued, "We always start these little talks with our newest members, the pledges and we go around and say what we're looking forward to in this year, what we're thankful for."

They went around the group, everyone clapping for the new members as they talked about the future, meeting friends, taking classes, forming lasting bonds. The sophomores were nearly just as eager, but they had the added advantage of talking about how the last year had gone, and what it meant to no longer be a pledge. The Junior class members went after that, more solemn still with their hopes for graduation and beyond starting to peak through, and the thanks to mentors, brothers and alumni that weren't there that weekend for guidance provided. Sebastian was thanked several times, and he found himself more than once with tears in his eyes.

As president and a senior, Sebastian went last. He thought for a moment after Lucky called his name and then spoke up. "I'm honored to serve this year, and know every single one of you. Being part of KSE has been one of the best experiences of my life, something I had no idea would come from a chance meeting with an alumni. It's been incredible to know and mentor so many, to have been mentored by Jack the Rabbit and Rollo. I will still be in Kirkwall after graduation, Maker willing, but I will miss the house more than I can say. I know next alumni weekend will be the best, because I'll be leaving KSE in such good hands." He choked up after that, and couldn't say anymore, but the whole of the group cheered for him.

Lucky stood up again, and this time he had a package in his hands. "There's one more person we need to talk about tonight. They've helped KSE in so many ways, been part of the group even though we don't have the means to acknowledge them, so this is our little way of saying thanks." He reached out and handed the box to Melissa, who took it with a confused smile. She started to hand it to him when Lucky spoke again. "Hawke, about half of us have been tutored by you over the years, and I've been the one leaving the problems on the board you've been solving. You made our first party epic, our president happy and everyone in KSE who knows you loves you. You are the First Lady of KSE, so that's what your shirt says. We'll miss your smiling face and the Choir Boy when you're gone, but you'll always be welcome at our alumni weekends."

She was crying as she pulled off the ribbon, Sebastian could see the tears reflecting the fire light, but her hands were steady as she opened the box. It was a KSE shirt, just as Lucky said, and it had First Lady where the nickname went. Sebastian felt tears threaten again at the sight of it, and was glad he didn't have to say anything. They hadn't even told him, probably because they knew he'd be unable to keep it a secret from Melissa. She took the shirt from the wrapping and held it up so everyone could see the back.

"Thank you so much, you're all so wonderful. I can't even think what to say right now, besides thanks." She turned her head back to him, and Sebastian caught her and pulled her close so she could bury her head in his chest. Lucky was smiling at him over Melissa's head, and Sebastian added his own thanks as he stroked her head. She was overwhelmed, he realized, and would either need to leave or have a drink soon.

"Goat, she's gonna need a bit of something strong," he murmured over her head to the brother sitting next to her. "Can you go to the bar for me?" he asked, and Goat nodded and scurried off. He came back with a whiskey with ice in it, and Sebastian nearly started in on the utter blasphemy of ice in good whiskey, but held his tongue so he could tend to Melissa. She'd stopped crying mostly, but her watery eyes threatened to overflow again.

She took the drink without explanation, and he watched her toss most of it back in one go. She coughed faintly as it hit her chest, but within another minute she seemed calmer. Melissa thanked everyone again. A general reminder went up about the hotel rules and not being disruptive in the halls. Anyone that got the front desk called on them was ejected from the weekend. Lucky made a few more announcements about tomorrow's events, and the group was free for the night.

Sebastian stayed where he was, and a blanket was passed to the two of them as more people departed. He shivered gratefully under the soft fabric, spreading it over Melissa's shoulders. Melissa was still tucked into his side, wearing her fleece coat and clutching the box with her shirt in it. "Did you know?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"They didn't tell me. It's the first time I've seen anyone be honored that wasn't a brother," he admitted, and she sniffled ominously, tears threatening to come back. "Do you want to go in?" he asked, but she shook her head.

"I want to watch the fire burn, if that's okay with you."

It was. He didn't want to go up yet either, and there was no place for him but at her side.


	3. Chapter 3

Nadia did want to talk to her, as Sebastian suspected earlier, but she was more in awe of Hawke than anything else. She knew of her, but they'd never met before, and Melissa was a little bowled over by the enthusiasm of her roomie. She was used to Isabela, who fit with her personality so well it was like they were meant to be friends. Nadia was effusive, sweet and a little tiring.

"So you work in the math department? I've got Differential Equations this year," Nadia told her. She didn't pause as she went on. "Wow, it was so nice of the brothers to get together and give you that! It was so amazing. You were so cute! Didn't Sebastian tell you? I think it was a sweet surprise."

"Sebastian said he didn't know," Melissa responded, and Nadia nodded.

"Yea, then he would have told you no doubt. How long have you two been together?"

"Since last spring, but we've known each other for longer than that," Melissa said, her head a little dizzy from the whiskey she'd gulped down. Nadia's voice seemed overloud in her ears, and she had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom after a few more questions. Nadia seemed to get her drift and settled into bed, leaving the shower free for Melissa. She showered quickly, thinking of the luxuriously large bath in Sebastian's room and how much better it would probably feel right then, and got out the shower. When she got to her bed, Nadia informed her that her phone had been buzzing. Nadia was already in her bed, and she turned out her light when Melissa got into bed.

There were several texts, one from Bethany asking if she got there okay, another from Isabela who was bored, and three from Sebastian, also bored. She answered Bethany first and said goodnight, then Isabela to tell her she'd call tomorrow before the formal. Sebastian's text weren't quite sexts, but she felt like they are leading towards it. He'd gotten far more into it now that they weren't sharing his bed every night, and Melissa was a little proud of how good she was at it.

 _"Are you in bed yet?"_ Sebastian always texted in full sentences, to do otherwise annoyed him. She found it hard to answer him back without doing the same. _"Why aren't you here with me?"_ and the always leading, _"I'm lonely without you here."_

Melissa pulled her hair back and covered it with her silk scarf and answered him. _"Wasn't in bed yet, I was in the shower. What are you doing?"_

He answered immediately. _"Drinking. Listening to music. There's a bluetooth speaker in here. Decent sound on it. What time are you getting up?"_

She knew what he was going to ask, but Melissa shook her head as if he could see her right then. "Nadia, what time are the spa appointments tomorrow?" Melissa asked, making Nadia jump out of her half sleep.

"Wha? Oh, like at nine. I don't know how they're going to schedule all of us as a group. Maybe the same way they do bridal parties," she said sleepily.

"Probably. Sorry I bothered you," Melissa said, reaching up to turn out the light next to her bed. "Goodnight."

"Night," Nadia's muffled voice answered, already turned back towards the wall. Melissa's phone lit up again.

_"Too late for you?"_

_"Nadia says nine. What time is golf? You could always get a massage with me."_

It took several minutes for her to get a response, and Melissa snuggled deeper into her bed, bringing the blankets up around her ears. People walked by in the hall, talking in low voices she couldn't make out. It was cold in here; she should have worn something more substantial than shorts and a t-shirt, but when she was packing she felt like shorts was a good compromise because she didn't normally wear pants to sleep unless there was a chance Sebastian's brothers might see her in her pajamas. Even then, she just pulled on Sebastian's pants instead most of the time.

Oh the KSE brothers, tears sprang to her eyes as she thought of the shirt they'd made her. Who'd have thought a silly shirt would turn her into a weeping fountain? Her misty eyes were just threatening to get the better of her when Sebastian answered.

_"Same time. Tempting, but I've already made bets on my golf game. Have breakfast with me?"_

She looked at her phone and knew all the things he wasn't asking. It was silly, they'd slept in the same bed before, and here they were on a break they'd planned to take together staying apart for no real reason. Sebastian was a grown ass man. He could decide if he was ready to sleep with her or not. She could say no. They weren't virgins or teenagers or strangers, they both knew about consequences and still decided to have a relationship. They'd fallen in love and now she was hesitating because the falling had been so exquisite and she knew they had to land sometime, but it didn't have to be this weekend.

Melissa got up, slipped on her fleece and took her silk scarf off her head, putting it into her pocket. She breathed deeply into the fleece, smelling the woodsmoke from the fire caught in it, and she smiled into the darkness. Digging quietly in her luggage, she found a pair of leggings and traded her shorts for them, then grabbed phone and keycard, stuck her feet in her shoes without socks and closed the door quietly behind her.

When she got to his door, she knocked quietly. Melissa had intended to say something like 'fancy meeting you here', or 'Why did we plan this and not plan to share a room?' but her quips fled when Sebastian opened the door. Music played in his room, so quiet she couldn't hear it in the hall without the door open. He was shirtless, a tiny Chantry sunburst hung from a chain around his neck, and the band of his underwear peaked out from the top of his low-slung sweatpants. In one quick, fluid movement, Sebastian picked her up and had her through the door bridal-style, shutting it behind him with a swift kick. It whooshed shut, the silencing hinges working overtime to absorb the force of his kick, but Melissa didn't care. She looped her arms around his neck and smiled at him as he took her to his bed.

When he set her down, he came down onto the bed with her, catching her up in a kiss. "I thought you'd fallen asleep on me," he rasped, his voice more than a little husky.

"I love you," she said, and Sebastian's eyes widened so much that she could see an outline of white all around the blue. "I love you," she repeated and Sebastian's kiss was more than just answer, it was the most enthusiastic response he could give. His mouth was so gentle as it kissed her, but there was so much happiness behind every kiss, every moment. When he pulled back, he pressed his forehead to hers.

"I love you, too Lissa, my sweet Lissa," he laughed softly, never breaking contact with her. "I've wanted to tell you that since summer, when we went on the boat with Isabela."

"Say it again," she whispered, and he did. Then he said it again and she pulled him down onto the bed next to her, so she could lay her head on his chest. After a while, they stopped saying it, but she could listen to the beat of his heart and was just as content with that as she was with the words.

#

For the formal, her mother had made her dress. It was perfect, more so than anything she could have bought, even if it had been made for her. The style was all due to Isabela, who had seen the dress that inspired their knock-off when she was shopping and couldn't let it go. She'd shown Melissa, who was normally not stylish at all, but even she had salivated at the sight of this dress.

Her version was slightly different than the designer version. It wasn't as Melissa had thought it would be -- it was better. The halter had become a daring, plunging cut-out keyhole halter top, and that was all of the ornamentation of the dress, that and the thigh-high slit. It fit like a glove, and when she'd tried it on, her mother had actually clapped. Bela had come through for the her entire weekend, providing her the clothes she'd changed into last night before the bonfire, designer jeans and a cute shirt, though the fleece she'd worn at night was her own. She had cute new tennis shoes to wear with her casual clothes and new strappy shoes to go with her dress.

Maker, that dress. She loved it more now than she had when Mother had let her try it on to get the pinning right. Now that it was time to put it on, she wished Isabela were with her. Hell, at this point she would have taken anyone, but was also partly glad that she didn't know anyone here well but the brothers. The lack of connection with anyone outside of KSE kind of made it her weekend alone, hers to share with Sebastian and make memories that no one else really could intrude upon. She took the dress from it's plastic sheath and hung it up, admiring it before she put it on. Well, it would go on after she did her hair, which was to be parted in the center and hanging straight down. Her makeup would be similarly simple, with the emphasis on her dark eyes, smokey eyeshadow, long lashes and soft pink lips.

"Oh Andraste, that is FANTASTIC!" Nadia exclaimed when she saw Melissa's dress. "I can't wait to see it on you."

"My mother made it for me. I hope it is fantastic," Melissa said.

"What shoes are you wearing with it?"

Melissa held up a pair of strappy silver sandals, and Nadia nodded in approval. "Those are great," she said, but hesitated.

"But?" Melissa prompted.

"But you're planning on dancing in those?" she asked.

"I'm not much of a dancer," Melissa admitted, then added, "and I don't think my dress wants much movement either."

"Fair enough," Nadia said, and then picked up her own bagged dress. "My dress is just a black dress I found on sale. I wanted to be able to reuse it. I suppose if your mom makes dresses you can just ask her to whip you up another if you need it."

Melissa laughed. "Something like that. She has a shop online if you're ever interested."

They talked more about their clothes as they got ready, Nadia helping Melissa pack up her things as they worked. Melissa was going to spend the night with Sebastian in his room, leaving Nadia the room if she wanted to bring her date back. She admitted she wasn't sure and didn't know her date well, but appreciated the privacy. She wasn't sure if Nadia knew she'd been gone the night before. Melissa wound up coming back to her room in the morning to dress for breakfast down in the restaurant with Sebastian and Nadia had still been asleep.

She liked Nadia despite the fact that she peppered Melissa with questions most of the time. That morning they'd all gone down to the spa to get different treatments, Melissa opting for a massage and eyelash extensions since Isabela had taken care of her hair, pedicure and manicure the day before. Truth be told, Melissa felt like she looked less like herself now, with her hair perfectly silky and parted, her fingertips professionally polished and all at a neat, uniform length.

"Ready to go have some fun?" Nadia asked, her voice already filled with giggles. Melissa hoped she actually ate the dinner they'd be served, because she seemed a little too ready to party.

Sebastian was downstairs waiting for her, and Melissa made sure she was first through the door to the ballroom. He looked amazing, in a suit that had all the look of being made just for him, and Sebastian was in head to toe black. He'd asked her what color her dress was, and she had just assumed him curious, but she realized that they were meant to make a statement together. He was such a peacock, it should have occurred to her, but it didn't until much later.

His black suit was paired with a black shirt, which was open at the neck for several buttons, enough that the Chantry amulet he wore was visible against his chest. His suit fit slim but he still wore a black belt with it, the silver glint of the buckle the only thing that relieved the darkness of it all. It wasn't overdone at all, it was very, very sexy. Dangerous. Melissa wondered if this was how Sebastian really liked to look, since he complained about casual clothes to her so often. If it was, she could think of no objections at all to him wearing more suits.

"Lissa, your dress," Sebastian said, giving her another approving up and down look as he grinned at her. "It looks like Isabela picked it out."

"She did," Melissa said, glad that she was too dark to really blush.

It was quite an Isabela dress she'd realized, once she had it on. But it had been sewn for her, and that was really what made it hers. Instead of Isabela's lush curves straining against the confines of the fabric, Melissa's slighter figure meant that the deep keyhole cutout in the middle and the thigh-high slit were deliberately showing her skin as part of the dress. It didn't make her breasts feel overexposed nor was the skirt tight; the dress just incorporated the smooth skin of her décolletage and legs as part of the design. Sebastian leaned in to kiss her cheek, and she grabbed his hand.

"I'll have to remember to thank her for her excellent taste."

"Mother probably deserves some praise for construction and fit," she pointed out, and Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Your Mother saw you in that and let you come with me this weekend?" he asked.

"She wanted me to catch a prince," Melissa quipped, giving him a sidelong smile.

"Consider me caught," he answered, laughing.

"You look nice too. You should always wear all black, it's very..." she trailed off.

"Very what?" he prompted.

She waited until she reached the table where she and Sebastian were sitting, considering her answer as she did. "Dangerously handsome. Exciting," she finally said. Her voice was a little too breathy to be as casual as she tried to play it off.

The smirk he sent her way showed just how much Sebastian appreciated the compliment. She felt the heat that simmered between them rise and Melissa had to take a deep breath to steady herself. He took her hand in his and kissed the knuckles, just that slight brush of his lips making her shiver the full length of her spine. She blew out her breath shakily and struggled to take in another.

"Stop it you two, the night's just started." Fabian, the vice-president of KSE came over to them, introducing them to his date as they sat down.

"Oh, I love your bracelet," Viveka, Fabian's date told her. Melissa made a note to tell Isabela how well the outfit was going over, and thanked Viveka.

"So what's for dinner?" Sebastian asked, and looked over the card set at his place setting. Under the table, his other hand covered her knee. Melissa ordered champagne and covered his hand with hers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update between homework assignments for y'all.

The formal was like going to a big wedding, to be honest, except that they didn't have to wait through any sentimental daddy/daughter dances. After the dinner was over, Sebastian spent a few minutes going around and talking to every table, for which Melissa stayed seated at their table, engrossed in a lively conversation with Lucky about the difference between a knife and a dagger. He made his way through the dining room talking to everyone just about once as he did coming back to her as the dj introduced himself and started to play music. He offered her his hand and Melissa was about to claim it when two pledges came up to him, bobbing anxiously on their feet as they both started talking at the same time.

She recognized them from earlier that day when they'd come to move her luggage to Sebastian's room. Nadia, her erstwhile roomie, hadn't moved hers, so both pledges had come to take Melissa's things. Melissa sat back in her chair and sipped at her water, waiting for Sebastian to finish talking. Viveka got up to go to the bathroom, but Melissa just waited. The music picked up, the song, a slow one, heading into its first, familiar verse as the lights lit up the nearly empty dancefloor. Politeness aside, she wanted the pledges to leave so she could have Sebastian all to herself. Not that she couldn't anyway, but tonight was special, her first formal.

"Fellas, if you'd excuse me," Sebastian said, and turned away without waiting to hear the politely muttered answers. His hand was out to Melissa once again, and this time she was able to take it without further interruption.

The song was a third over by the time they got to the floor, but she didn't care. Sebastian's large hand was so warm in hers, and Melissa was looking forward to these first few dances. They were all slow, and it would be just her and Sebastian dancing together, the way she'd pictured it in her mind. It was a silly fantasy of hers, but after the wedding they'd attended over the summer, she wanted this to go right, to fit the map in her head and erase all of the strained, awkward memories from that trip. More slow dancing, less drinking, or at least that was her plan for the night.

"In case I haven't said it enough, you look beautiful tonight Lissa."

Melissa gave him a grateful grin in response before whispering her thanks. Even after all these months, sometimes his attention felt too great when he focused all of it on her, as he was currently doing. The coiled intensity within Sebastian was visible in the tension in him; he seemed to flicker there was so much in him trying to get out. It kept his eyes darting around the room when they weren't on her, and showed in the way he feigned casual with such calculation that it couldn't fool her, the searing heat of the light touch of his hand on her lower back as he led her in their dance.

"Are you shy now, lass?" he asked in a voice so soft for all of its rawness that she nearly shivered.

She nearly ducked her head in an almost-forgotten gesture that Leandra had long since trained out her, but settled for merely shaking her head as she thought of a response. "It's nice to be here, with you. I've." She stopped mid-sentence, thinking. The song ended as she did, and spun into another one. Sebastian didn't let her go. "I've never done anything like this before. Just gone away for the sake of a very large private party," she said.

As her feet danced, so did her words. Gliding around what she was really trying to say without making a proper impression. Sebastian led her around silently, his too intense eyes darkened slightly in concentration as he looked at her. "I only meant I've never had time off like this before, not so much to go away. I'm glad it's with you."

Sebastian's face grew solemn at her words, and if anything his focus tightened on her even further. "I should have realized that over the summer and managed a proper vacation with you. My family has properties all over Thedas. We could have gone anywhere."

"No! I liked our summer the way it was, here in Kirkwall. I wouldn't have changed it."

"Me either," he agreed. She got the feeling he was just saying it to agree with her, to stave off any arguments she might make. It had been a good summer, the best she'd had in her whole adult life, by all accounts.

They danced on in silence for a while, until Lucky came over and cut in Sebastian, grinning broad as his face as he did. Sebastian stepped aside gracefully, but Melissa caught his eye before he took up the rest of the dance with Lucky's date. Words that they hadn't said simmered between them, but there would be time enough tonight for them.

"Your dress is a marvel of engineering," Lucky told her, and Melissa titled her head back and laughed. It was turning out to be an even better night than she was expecting.

#

"I actually am enjoying Concrete Design as a class, but there's so much drafting homework," Sebastian was saying. Concrete design was just what it sounded like, the study of concrete as it was used to anchor building materials and in the design of beams, columns and slabs of it. Dull stuff to those outside of the civil engineering department, but it was turning into his favorite class this semester, despite the fact that it was putting his computer through its paces with all the drafting.

"Can I steal back my boyfriend?" Melissa asked from behind him, and he felt her hand slide into his. Excused from the conversation, she led him back to their table to sit down.

"I would dance but my feet are beginning to ache," she admitted and smiled. "And my favorite partner disappeared."

"You looked like you were having fun."

"Heard you going on about your concrete class. I'm glad you like it better than the Steel Design one you took last semester," she said.

"So am I," he said, then motioned to the unoccupied chairs around their table. "Put your feet up." A waiter came by and offered them both water, and in the middle of all the loud chaos, the two of them sat out a few dances to just talk. When the music shifted back towards slow, he stood up and held out his hand to Melissa.

"Let's get in a one more before your feet fall off for the night and I have to carry you up to the room," he joked.

"Just get a wheelbarrow and dump me in it. That's what they would have done in Ferelden," she said.

"Classy. I'm not sure they have any that aren't used by the groundskeepers here and I'd really hate to ruin that dress, so I'll stick to my plan."

She stuck her tongue out at him as she got up, took another sip of her water and accompanied him back out for one last dance.

It was more than one dance, but not many more before the music ended. Couples around them had started drifting towards rooms, or in a few cases tired and tipsy dates had gone up to their rooms for sobering solitude. He wasn't ready for the night to end, even as the dj thanked them for hiring him and wished them a goodnight. Sebastian took Melissa's hand and lead her out onto the hotel's patio, overlooking the lake in the distance. It was beyond dark out past the hotel, and they could see only the faintest shimmer of the moon reflected on the surface to indicate where the lake was.

There was no one else outside with them, and for that he was glad. As much as he wanted her to see him, the shadows and velvety fall darkness around them calmed him, just a little. There were lights that dotted the perimeter of the railing, but they weren't particularly bright. It was just enough to see where they were going, to know when to stop at the edge before the path that started down to the lake. He stood there, holding Melissa's hand and marshaling his thoughts.

"I had a good time tonight," she ventured, squeezing his hand in hers. The slight breeze ruffled her hair, and Sebastian let it wash over him, taking the heat from the dancing and the hot room from him.

"It was the best formal I've been to," Sebastian concurred in a quiet voice. "You're the first date I've ever brought."

"Really? Huh." They lapsed into silence again, both looking out towards the water. It seemed to draw the eye, even in the low light. He felt her shiver, and he shrugged off his jacket and gave it to her without thought.

"It's sweater weather now, I suppose," she said as she slipped it on.

"My favorite time of year," he told her distractedly. "When we go upstairs, what's going to happen?" he asked. There was just a bit of trepidation in his voice that he couldn't banish, and Sebastian desperately wished that he could.

"Well," Melissa turned back to face him and she drew her finger up his chest and cupped his chin in her hand. "You and I will be alone, and I'm really craving hot chocolate, especially with this breeze. Then I might have a small gift for you, if you're lucky. It will go well with a movie. Some popcorn. At the end maybe I'll take a very lovely bath in your overly large tub."

"I love you," he said, giving her a small smile as he told her. "And I'm glad I wasn't the only one wanting hot chocolate."

She gave him a very soft kiss, barely brushing his lips as she passed over them. Sebastian felt it down to his toes, whatever the lightness of it. "I love you, too," Melissa said, smiling back at him.

She slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer, and he could feel how chilled she'd become since they'd come outside. They stood there for a while, it could have been seconds or minutes for all that he knew. Sebastian had hoped she felt the same as he did, and it was wonderful - no, far better than just wonderful, but he didn't have the words for it -- to know that she loved him too. The night before, when she came to his room and told him that she loved him, for all that it was wonderful, it still hit him like a blow to the chest. Truth be told, he was still reeling from it, even after saying it to her tonight.

The coolness of the night chased them inside, making both him and Melissa shiver their way to the elevator and up to his room. Earlier pledges had been sent around to collect the belongings of people switching rooms that night and two of them had shown up to take Melissa's things. They said it was just a coincidence, but the blatant attempt to curry favor with her almost made him laugh when he thought on it. Her things were resting in his room now, and as she took shorter and shorter steps in her fancy shoes, he was sure she was glad for it.

"So I do have a surprise for you," Melissa said when they'd entered his room. The darkness of it made it impossible for either of them to go very far, especially given the strange layout of the suite. When he tuned on the nearest light, it shown only in the doorway. She handed him back his jacket and kicked off her shoes with an audible sigh, then turned to smile at him. "If you'll order hot chocolate from room service, I'm going to take off my dress."

"That's not the surprise is it?" he asked, and she laughed.

"Not unless you like very predictable surprises. Now, are you going to order hot chocolate or am I?"

"Your bags are in the bedroom. Go on. I'll get room service to bring up the drinks."

The urge to ask if he could join her in the bedroom and watch her undress niggled at him, especially when she started unzipping it as she walked out of the living room. Melissa gave the tiniest shimmy of her hips to get the zipper over them and breathed out a sigh of relief as she went into the bedroom. If this were Starkhaven, he would have had her flat on that bed already, the lovely white dress on the floor along with his suit. As tempting as it was to say he was a different man then, he truly wasn't quite a man yet in those days.

He let the desire pass him by with a small twinge of regret for what could have been, had he been both more and less himself. She was right to refuse him, for all that her no had been gentle and sweet. Sometimes he felt as if she knew what he needed better than he could, like her gift of understanding gave her a clarity that he lacked when he looked at himself. He let the thought drop as he called room service, who actually did have hot chocolate on their all-day dining menu. After being assured and reassured that his hot chocolate would be delivered most promptly, Sebastian took off his belt in an attempt to relax.

Melissa returned to him, wearing leggings and her KSE shirt and carrying a small bag. The way his heart flip-flopped at seeing her in it was almost physical. She could have asked him for anything in that moment, especially when she came up to him smiling and drew him down into a kiss. Were it not for the gentle pressure of a hand on his chest and the waggling of her plastic bag, he wouldn't have stopped kissing her, but Melissa had other plans.

"S'mores!" she told him, and then burst into enthusiastic giggles. "They wouldn't let us use them in the firepit last night, I asked, but you have a kitchen. Nadia and I didn't so ours would have just been sad."

She danced out of his embrace and went to the kitchen to inspect the contents. Sebastian followed her, unsure how to make s'mores without a fire. When Melissa pulled out casserole dish, he grew even more confused. She apparently, knew what she was doing, and was heating the oven and breaking graham crackers as he stood there watching.

When she finished, it was quick work, he reached down to take a bite but she smacked his hand away. Her quick reflexes stung like a Chantry Mother with a ruler, and he almost felt like a seven year old again. Sebastian whimpered pathetically and she kissed the hand she'd just attacked. She kissed the inside of his palm as he cupped her face, and he leaned down to keep the kisses going, catching her mouth and pressing a hard kiss to her soft lips. A hand traced the warm lines of a hip and her stomach, and Sebastian, overcome with thoughts of those same hips wiggling around in that white dress all night, bent down to kiss it.

He pressed kisses into the curve of her hip and across the skin of her stomach, nipping the surface playfully. Every inch of skin across her sternum got kissed since he'd been staring at it all night thinking of how dark and smooth the skin looked, how it would feel under his lips. She yelped as his teeth grazed just under her breast and he pulled back to let her shirt fall back down. He kissed her neck instead, moving away from the sweet, soft parts of her chest that had been exposed all night, begging for his attention.

It always surprised him, when it probably shouldn't, how much she wanted him. Lissa's kisses were passionate, her hands were just as exploratory as his when she pushed him against the cabinets. He knew he shouldn't be surprised because as cool and logical as she could be, Melissa wasn't devoid of passion, yet it always staggered him that whatever deep reserves lay within her, she directed their energies at him.

As if the ding of that signaled the oven was finished preheating wasn't enough to pull them apart, there was a knock on the door. Melissa broke contact first, staggering backwards drunkenly, so wobbly that he put a hand out to steady her.

"I should get that," she said, and he nodded.

"I'm going to change out of my suit," Sebastian said, suddenly wanting to be anywhere besides the kitchen. He wasn't sure he was in a fit state to be seen, not with his hair wild from Lissa's fingers and his erection threatening to burst through his pants.

He spied a overly lipsticked hotel employee come through the door bearing their drinks after Melissa opened it, the woman's smile only falling a little as she saw that Sebastian wasn't alone. She rallied and began setting out the drinks on the table, speaking in an overly cheerful voice. Sebastian closed the door to the bedroom and pulled off his suit, sifting through the discarded clothes piled on his chair to find the sweatpants he'd worn the night before. He put them on and found a tshirt, pulling off his dress socks as an afterthought.

When he returned Melissa was back in the kitchen, putting the soon to be s'mores into the oven. She grinned happily at him.

"The girl that came showed me how to light the fireplace that's in here. It's only electric though, so this is still the best way to make s'mores. Still, it's nice to have. Do you want to watch a movie?"

"You're not choosing it, I swear all you watch are dramas and I'm not in the mood for big costumes and tragedy," he said, and laughed at her disappointed face.

He wanted to fuck her more than anything tonight, just the thought of it made his head swim with pure lust. That was just the problem though, it wasn't quite making love, not yet. Sebastian grinned, but it felt too hard to be true, though Melissa didn't seem to notice. He wouldn't take her to bed, but s'mores, hot chocolate and a movie together wasn't a bad consolation prize.


	5. Chapter 5

They weren't even forty-five minutes into the movie when there was another knock on his door. Sebastian had sticky, marshmallow-y gooey hands with traces of chocolate on them, and tried vainly to wipe them off with a tissue. It didn't really help. He opened the door to see a very anxious looking Fabian, his vice-president. Sebastian reigned in his annoyance as he let him in. He waved him into the room as he went to wash his hands at the kitchen sink.

"What's up?" he asked over a shoulder. Melissa looked up from where she lay on the couch, the movie paused.

"Thank the Maker, you're dressed. You weren't answering your phone," Fabian said, giving him an exasperated look. Sebastian's phone was presumably still in the pocket of his suit jacket, where he'd forgotten about it. He waved off Fabian's censure with a hand, asking why he was here.

"We've got a problem, St. Seb. There's some very drunk guests of our pledges downstairs, and one girl is crying. I wasn't able to find out why. I just think they're really drunk, but we need to find out who brought in the booze and how it got so bad so quickly. We were monitoring drinks downstairs, so no one got served until they were shitfaced."

"I know," Sebastian said groaning inwardly. His mind was racing, and he hoped he wouldn't be the KSE president that wound up getting them suspended off campus for five years. Anything that went wrong off-campus couldn't technically be punished by the school, but they always found a way to punish groups who got too out of hand and tarnished the good name of Kirkwall Polytechnic. A five year punishment was common for groups they wanted to kill off -- it was just long enough to keep them from recruiting for active members and let all the old ones graduate.

Fabian was still standing in the entry but the door was shut behind him. Sebastian came over to him and asked, "You know anything else? Is anyone hurt?"

"No idea. I don't think so though, just too drunk for anything good to happen."

"Let's go," Melissa said, surprising him with her nearness. She was standing at his side, balancing on one foot as she slipped on her shoes. He held her elbow as she switched feet, and then he went for his own shoes. She handed him his missing phone, which had almost half the charge. It was good enough. She slipped hers into her fleece jacket pocket and pulled the glorious ebony curtain of her hair back into a more practical ponytail. It felt like the night was ending just with that one motion, making everything mundane where it had almost been magical.

Once they got to the room, Melissa put her hand to his chest to stop him as he was about to knock on the door. He could hear sobbing through the door, punctuated with a few hiccups. She knocked instead, a sound too loud to ignore, but not enough to get the attention of any other guests in the hall. He'd been about to pound on the door, a mistake, he realized belatedly, because it would have unduly scared a skittish group of drunk girls.

"It's Hawke. I just want to check on all of you. Can you open the door?" she asked. From the other side he heard voices, people, but nothing distinct until a small scuffling and then a voice closer to the door started to speak.

"Who are you?"

"Melissa Hawke," she answered. "Can you let me in?"

More scuffling and then the voice turned away from the door, but Sebastian could still hear them as they said, "Sebastian's wife wants to come in." He saw Melissa looked heavenward, as if she her patience was already wearing thin. Sebastian hid his small smile at both the words and her response, but Fabian was grinning at him.

The door opened slowly, but Melissa stepped in smartly and closed it behind her. A minute later she opened it and said softly, "Wait out here, just for a few minutes."

So he waited in the drab hallway with Fabian, examining the grey spiral swirl of the carpet. They had little choice but to wait as Melissa said, and he could think of no where else to go that was nearby. Up and down the hall there seemed to be no other signs of disturbance coming from the rooms that lodged their members, though he could hear the unmistakable sound of someone faking an orgasm with an award-worthy performance. 

The room full of drunk girls was in the same stretch of hall where Melissa's original room with Nadia was. Sebastian realized that most of the people they came with must be here and on the floor directly above, sequestered from the rest of the hotel guests. Only he in his complimentary upgraded suite was further away from the group. He wished he were back there now, but instead he waited in silence with Fabian, who was also missing his night. He wondered if Viveka was mad. Melissa wasn't -- but he knew her well enough to know that she usually did something if she could, instead of sitting around being upset. Melissa abhorred inaction. He loved that about her, that no matter how impossible or mundane the task, she'd rather do something than nothing.

Melissa came back out and motioned for them to come into the room. Fabian glanced at him and shrugged, but he was already walking towards the door. The lights were on inside, and everyone was dressed, although one girl was still quietly sobbing into a pillowcase. She turned to speak with a girl he didn't know by sight, but she looked mostly sober. Her hair was wet, streaming down her back in a dirty blonde wave and she had a round, apple shaped face that was centered by large eyes that made her look like a strange doll.

"This is Amber. Tell Sebastian what happened," Melissa said encouragingly to the girl. 

"After the formal, we all came back up here. It was supposed to be like a party, so no one was alone, cause Andirena there," she motioned to the crying girl, "didn't like her date. So we came here. Nothing happened really, not at first, but Billy brought absinthe. We didn't think it would be like this," she said, shaking her head. 

"Where'd he get the absinthe?" Sebastian asked. It wasn't illegal to buy in Kirkwall, but hard to procure and expensive, at least the good stuff was -- he didn't know how much anything less would be. There was a bottle in the locked cabinet at the house, and only KSE officers had the keys. A knot of dread formed in his stomach, and he feared he knew where this was going.

"Stole it, he said. It was in a flask, but like a big one. Bigger than the clutch I had for the formal. He said he was bringing aquae lucidius but then he said he couldn't because that would be missed," Amber said.

"So he stole from our liquor cabinet," Fabian said, and Sebastian nodded his agreement of the assessment. 

"Seems likely. And you're all right?" Sebastian asked Amber. He looked around the room. They all just seemed very drunk, but not hurt in any way.

"I am. Andirena is crying cause of her dog or some shit like that. She's sensitive."

"Fluffins was the best cat in Thedas. You'll never understand," Andirena slurred from her pillow. Melissa went over to her and hugged her, which made the girl cry all the harder.

"You smell good, like chocolate," Andirena told Melissa. She didn't answer, she just stroked her hair, but he knew a brief bite of regret for the s'mores that were currently congealing in his suite under the light of a paused movie he'd been enjoying.

"Where's Billy now?" Sebastian asked. He had to find him and confiscate the flask at the very least. Part of him was so relieved that Billy and whatever buddies he was with -- Sebastian knew there had to be at least one accomplice -- he was glad they weren't in here trying to coerce sex from drunk girls. But where they were and what they were doing now would still likely result in a long night for Sebastian.

"He said they were going back down to the firepit from last night. I told them to go, Andirena was too upset to leave and Maisie kept puking. She puked on me so I had to take a shower."

He looked over to see a third girl in the room, passed out on the bed behind where Amber sat. He went over to check on her, but she was just sleeping it off. Gently, he took off the mismatched shoes she wore, a slipper and a high heel, and set them on the floor near the closet. She'd be feeling this night tomorrow, and likely still on Monday.

Fabian looked upset, but Sebastian held up a hand to forestall whatever he was going to say. "Lissa, will you stay with them? Andirena needs a friend," he said. What he was really concerned about was Billy and co coming back once he left, and he wanted to leave her behind to keep him from bothering these girls again. They were just drunk, he didn't need them fighting or fucking in this condition.

"Yeah, sure. We can watch a movie, and you come get me when you're finished. You've got the key to the room."

"I don't know when that will be. You take it," he said and handed it to her. He reached down to brush her cheek with his lips. "Call me if you need anything."

Then he and Fabian left her in the room with three drunk girls he'd never met before, and tried not to run to the elevator bank. It was unlikely that the thieving Billy would still be at the firepit, but with any luck they'd catch up to him before the hotel was forced to call the guard. Despite his outward calm, Sebastian was still panicking. He had to avoid any problems that would come of this, or his presidency would be a ruin right from the very start. He could almost hear his father in his head, telling him how stupid he'd been about everything, this formal, joining KSE, going to Kirkwall Tech. Fabian's silence was grim as they got into the elevator, and Sebastian knew why. He was going to have to suspend people in the morning, at least until there was a disciplinary hearing by the KSE board.

#

Billy wasn't hard to track down.

It wasn't as long of a night as Sebastian had feared it would become, but it was still a merry little chase. Billy and another pledge named Declan had gone out the firepit. Seeing that there was no fire and upon being refused after asking the hotel to start one, had decided to go golfing. They were somewhere between the third and fourth holes when Sebastian and Fabian, equipped with their phone flashlights, found them under a tree. Both were drunk but Billy was the drunkest and completely passed out. Declan, who hadn't been able to move Billy had decided to simply sit with him and watch videos on his phone until it died.

There hadn't been much point in doing more than moving them back to their rooms, which took some work. Fabian offered to drive them back to campus, but Sebastian declined to keep him further from his night. There was plenty of time in the morning to deal with these two, and far more time in the semester to find out about the stealing. He'd texted Melissa, who met him back at his room. Together they'd abandoned their movie, and he'd cleaned up the s'mores while she showered. Then he showered and they'd both fallen into an exhausted sleep.

In the morning, Sebastian woke up with Melissa and her warmth rolled away from him, her back facing him. She was on her side, looking at her phone. He rolled into her, an arm pulling her against his chest as he laid on his back. He'd be warmer if he'd worn a shirt to bed, but he'd been too hot after his shower last night to wear one.

"What time is it?" he asked, voice husky with lack of sleep. His head hurt, he was tired already and he wanted the weekend to be over.

"About an hour before your alarm is supposed to go off," she answered. He grunted his thanks, and she burrowed closer to him. Her warmth and softness lasted for all of what felt like a minute before she started fidgeting, and rolled away from him to put her phone down.

"Are you up?" she asked, and Sebastian didn't dignify her with an answer. He wasn't about to be awake if he could help it. She came back towards him and he felt her kiss the underside of his jaw. "You seem almost awake."

"Nope," he lied, and felt her chuckle against him. Her tongue, her clever, devilish little tongue flicked over a spot on the underside of his jaw, and then she pressed a kiss to it like she was measuring the difference in his pulse. Her hands had been pressed against his chest were moving downward, too slow and deliciously deliberate for him to ignore and go back to sleep. She kissed him again, and this time Sebastian leaned into it.

They kept kissing, building up momentum between each lazy kiss, until they were no longer unhurried but decidedly urgent. Her hand trailed lower, and she stroked the length of his cock. He felt the shock of it exposed to the cold air, because she'd pulled his waistband low to free it. Her warm hand made it even harder with each stroke. Sebastian closed his eyes, sinking into the sensation. He let her make a few passes before he asked, "You want do something about that?"

"Are you suggesting something?" she countered.

He was horny, exhausted and tantalized by the feeling of running his fingertips across the soft skin of her back. Sebastian's mind, never at its best in the mornings, could only conjure up images of her from the night before in her dress, and how he'd been deprived of whatever simple pleasures they'd tried to embark on before Billy the thief led them on a merry chase around the grounds. His resolve wavered.

"Maybe I should just do what I think is best," Melissa murmured softly, and then licked the head of his cock. It was just one small pass, but she blew on it, and the warm/cold sensation of her breath nearly undid him. She'd never sucked his cock before, and now he couldn't think of a single Maker-given reason why he should stop her.

"Go on," he urged, voice rasping on just those two words. And she did, without any more urging from him.

It was bliss. At first. All he could do was feel, it was like any coherent thought was thrown from his mind. It had been so long since he felt the heat of a mouth wrapped around him, and Maker, he could savor this forever. He only felt the sheets clenched in his fists after she pulled back and he released them, the soft cotton falling in a slightly damp peak from his hands only for him to snatch them back up when she started again. She pulled back and giggled at him, but all he could do was groan. It was intense, overwhelming, and hard to understand why he'd abstained for so long when all he could do was feel. 

But then his mind came back, and he receded from the place where he could only submit to his senses. Melissa was making soft, pleased noises around his cock at his every groan, and he let himself bask in her enjoyment for a second. His hand went to her head to guide her, tightening in her hair as she let a rasp of teeth brush over his shaft. She wasn't a novice at it, but she wasn't the most skilled he'd ever had. There had been too many professionals in his past, though he'd never paid any of them. They were the kind that wanted to marry a prince, to have a good time with him because of what he was and ride on to the next good time when they tired of him. 

As her tongue slid down the underside of his cock, Sebastian groaned but soon his mind was overrun with memories again. He couldn't help it, slipping in and out of the moment unintentionally. He was back in a dozen bars he couldn't remember, his pants only unzipped to allow an eager, willing mouth to take him as drink swirls through his body. He couldn't see the faces, and there was no way he could remember them all, but it was never important enough for him to remember, and that was the problem. Melissa's mouth, so warm and inviting slid over the head of his cock again, and he returned to the present.

He couldn't. This is why he wanted to wait. Too many predators of his own making prey upon him in dark, unguarded moments and Sebastian was no longer invincible during sex. Too much shame and guilt came to him from it, the feelings all tied up and too confused to let the real ones shine through. He loved Melissa, was committed to her, and yet a strange well of too many confused feelings threatened to overwhelm him as she brought him closer to orgasm.

Sebastian came, surprising them both as his hips jerked and tightening of the hand in her hair. She gave him a few moments to collect himself, and he let the shuddering breaths subside into something ragged but closer to normal, felt the heat of his skin turn cool and dull without her there next to him. He wasn't sure what to say.

She reached a finger out and drew a line up his bare chest. She kissed where the line had traced, pressing kissing into his skin until she was back at his neck, where she'd started kissing him earlier. Melissa sucked at the pressure point, hard enough to make his tired cock stir feebly again, but Sebastian put an end to that. Drawing her in, he kissed her deeply, tasting himself in her mouth. That too reminded him too much of the past, and he disengaged, kissing her gently against her forehead and pulling her back to his chest. Then, without realizing it, he fell asleep for the next twenty-two minutes until his alarm went off.


	6. Chapter 6

Melissa stared at the ceiling for twenty-two minutes.

They had to stop fooling around in hotels. It had this out of bounds feeling to it, like it didn't really count because they weren't at home, and it did count. It mattered to Melissa that they'd been intimate and now Sebastian could just go to sleep and then jump out of bed like his ass was on fire when the alarm went off. He didn't mention it, and that quiet dismissal burned in her. She didn't get any reciprocity or to even understand why things had gotten so weird at the end, when he'd seemed surprised and guilty. Bela's words echoed in her memory, and she wanted to talk about it, to see if the subtle shift in mood had been because Sebastian truly wasn't ready and she'd gone ahead anyway.

He disappeared soon after they got out of bed, needing to deal with the Billy situation. He'd kissed her swiftly, told her to go to breakfast downstairs and not wait for him. She'd been mulish even as she drank her coffee and ate the breakfast buffet. Nadia sat with her at the table, and even she was unable to make much conversation. When she got back to the room, Sebastian was up there with a pastry she hadn't seen him get but was obviously from the breakfast buffet, a cup of coffee and had packed their bags up. Her dress was hanging with his suit again, and he'd even packed up the s'mores they hadn't finished the night before, begging a plastic sandwich baggie from the hotel staff.

"You could have just thrown it out. Are you actually going to eat that?" she asked, pointing at the brick of chocolate and hard marshmallow that her creation had become.

"Probably for breakfast tomorrow," he admitted, and she smiled despite herself. She was still confused and a little angry with Sebastian's speedy departure this morning after he'd fallen asleep on her, but that was something to deal with at home, she supposed.

"I've got to make sure everyone's out of the rooms before I get the bus, but I'll take the bags down. Just check to make sure we've got everything."

Leaving was the easy part. She went to settle into her bus seat after Sebastian took their luggage down while he and the rest of the KSE board members knocked on doors and rounded up stragglers. They were sharing a list on their phones that allowed them to record and cross of the names of any missing people. Billy and Declan, the liquor thieves, had been sent home earlier in the car with Fabian and a very grumpy Viveka. Melissa suspected Viveka had plans to be alone with Fabian that were interrupted, and she was none too pleased to have her time taken away. Viveka didn't go to Tech like they did, but rather to the same school Bethany attended.

Billy and Declan were away to meet their probably kicked out of KSE fate, and the girls from the room had all come down to breakfast. Melissa boarded the bus and sat in the back to wait for Sebastian. Her stomach was in knots, trying to parse out all the things that had happened this weekend. She loved Sebastian. She'd told him that, and he'd said it back without hesitation. There'd been a blowjob and now avoidance. That might have worked this summer, but it wasn't the same anymore. She resolved to talk to him about it when he got on the bus, because they had to. It wouldn't be right to just let it sit again.

But then he'd got on the bus, unshaven and looking tired, wearing the jeans he disliked so much. The bus was quiet, full of hungover, sleeping people, and she knew it wasn't the right time for a heavy talk. Sebastian got into the seat and slumped over, looking at his phone. He got back up again and left, without saying anything, went back into the hotel and disappeared for several minutes. He came back out, went to the other bus and yelled until several people got off and went back into the hotel. Ten minutes later he was back in her seat, and they were about to head back to Kirkwall.

Her heart, never as tough as she made it seem, softened as she looked at his tired face. She was sitting with her back to the window, her legs draped across the three seats with her feet on Sebastian's lap. He was in the seat closet to the aisle, and was still looking at his phone as the bus started to move.

"Hey," she said, and opened her arms to him. Sebastian looked up in confusion, then crawled into them, resting his head against her chest. This time, they both fell asleep and slept the whole way back to Kirkwall.

#

He drove her home and stayed with her by some unspoken agreement to get away from KSE after a whole weekend with all of them. They were quiet as they stripped out of their traveling clothes and shoes, and Sebastian settled on her bed as she put on an overlarge tshirt and folded the other clothes over the back of her desk chair.

"I liked the top you were wearing today," he said. She'd been wearing jeans, new ones, and a hoodie over a black knit top. The black top was tight, sleeveless and showed just a hint of her stomach. All of it and the grey shoes she'd worn had been from Isabela, who told her to 'think of it as redefining casually sexy'.

"Thanks," Melissa said absently, and then looked up at him. Sebastian was almost just as he'd been in bed at the hotel this morning, shirtless, wearing only his boxers, stubbly jaw and shadowed eyes. He was tired, but not avoiding her as she'd thought before.

"Are you good with what happened earlier? In the hotel?" she asked, suddenly shy of saying 'when I gave you a blowjob?"

He ran a hand through his hair, thinking before he gave her an answer. "I don't know. I enjoyed it, but there's so many thoughts and feelings that I'm not sure what to do with."

"Why don't you talk to your therapist about it?" she asked, and watched his face become carefully neutral. They'd never talked about his therapist before, but she knew about it.

"I have before. How do you know?" he asked, in a voice that was too careful and slow to be accusatory, but she heard it there all the same.

"The card is in your wallet," she explained. "I wasn't prying, but whenever we ordered food this summer and you gave me your wallet, a reminder card would fall out."

"I've not been good about going. Especially not since we got together," he admitted. "I thought that if I was in a relationship, if I cared enough and fell in love, my intimacy problems would sort themselves out."

She sat down on her bed next to him and put a hand on his knee. "I used to see a counselor. Back in Ferelden. It's nothing to be ashamed of," she said quietly.

"Tell my father that," Sebastian said bitterly.

"I will, if I ever meet him. A thing happened to me once, but it was more when it happened I think, than the thing itself. My father was so sick. His mind was still there, but he lost the power of speech. He went into the hospital soon after, but for about three weeks it was just us in the house, trying to pretend like we could take care of him. He would cry all the time, because he couldn't speak, and he wanted to say so much. It must have been so frustrating." She was aware of how dull her voice was getting, and even though she'd told this story before, it still affected her. She didn't want to cry, not now, so she just kept talking.

"Anyway, I went to work one day. It was at the grocers, and this kid there, we went to school together, and she bothered me all the time. It was just her thing, she was a jerk. So I go there and she'd be on her same kick again, making fun of me and my siblings for being poor, calling my mother snotty and stuck up. But for some reason that day she said something about my dad, and everyone knew he was sick and dying. She asked me if he wet the bed, trying to get a rise out of me, and it worked, for once. We were in the stockroom and I went off on her, and fucking pounded her into the ground. I remember driving my fist into her gut first, and the surprised look on her face as I did it. Like it was was in slow motion. There was a switchblade in my boot -- my dad gave it to me years before, I've still got it somewhere -- and I was about ready to get her good, when I just stopped. I went to sit in the corner, like I had to put myself in time out. She left that day and quit the store. Never told anyone that I beat her ass. But I couldn't go back into stockroom without seeing red. It was like that room held her taunting voice for me."

Sebastian took her hand in his and didn't say anything. Melissa went on, "I think you need help getting rid of the echoes of old voices sometimes. I let it make me angrier than I already was, and by the time my dad died, I wanted to find her and make her pay, like she was the one that killed him. It wasn't right. She deserved the ass beating she got, but not more than that from me. I had a hard time making her taunting voice go away."

She turned toward him and took in his face, the compassion and pity in his expression, the worry that dulled the blue of his eyes. "You need to talk it out, because I want you to have peace. Also because I just want you. I don't care about your past, or what your parents have said or threatened or done. I want it to be the most natural thing for me to fall asleep next to you naked because I'm too exhausted and sated to move. I want laughter and cuddly sex and hot, quick fucking and the kind you have when you feel like you're going to burst from lust if you don't do it, and I know you want that too. But we're not going get there if you don't work it out."

"I definitely want all of that with you," he agreed in a murmur. Neither of them said more, and Melissa knew it was up to him to work it out. All she could do was encourage.

"I'm going to sleep now," Melissa said, and stretched. He watched her as she did, and then he yawned. 

"Melissa," he started, but then stopped when she turned to him. He shook his head, and she went to flip off her light. His phone rang, and he walked out the living room to answer it.

When he came back from talking to Fabian, because it could have only been his vice-president on the other end, he got in the bed with her. She pulled him close the way he'd done to her early that morning. 

"Did you have a good weekend?" he asked, and Melissa snorted.

"Mostly. Good formal, but I never finished the first movie. We wound up watching some Cinderella retelling in the drunk tank. Next time I'll find a date that isn't the president so we won't be interrupted."

"Have fun with that. No one else's going to have a suite either."

"That's true," she yawned, and then added, "I guess I'll stick with you then. No one else is going to look that good in a suit."

"I did look nice, didn't I?"

"Stop. You're fucking gorgeous, Sebastian Vael, but you're even more so when you let me sleep."

So he did, but not before he kissed her again, just as rain started to fall outside.


End file.
